Child Left in School Bus under Scorching Heat

Chapel Hill: Two year old was left un-noticed inside the school bus for several hours at a Chapel Hill day care center. The incident happened on Tuesday when temperature was 100 degrees. Chapel Hill day care is under investigation. The incident happened with toddler Karah Evans.

"I'm angry because, we as parents, we entrust these people to take care of our children," said Evans' mom, Kimberly Cates.

Administration begged to her not to go to the authorities regarding the issue but she filed a police report.

She said that the administrator after showing up in her house informed her that Karah Evans was left in the school bus most of the day.

"They said they had given her some water and ice and tried to feed her, and she threw up several times," said Cates.

Cates confirmed that her daughter was lethargic and wouldn’t speak. He was wearing new set of clothes.

"They changed her clothes and everything," she said. "They brought back her (original) clothes and they were soaking wet in a bag."

Kimberly Cates said that the school authorities offered her free day care fees and medical expenses for silence.

"They were like 'Call us. Don't call anybody else. Call us,'" said Cates. "They were worried about themselves and what was going to happen to them, not my child or me. I just couldn't believe they didn't call 911."

The school administrator confirmed that the person responsible for the child’s welfare has been fired. The centre released this statement:

"Yesterday afternoon, June 16th, 2015, there was an incident with one of the children in our care. When the administration and staff at Operation New Life became aware of the situation, we took immediate action to tend to the child in need as well as alerting the parents of the child. Be assured the safety and care of the children entrusted to us is our highest priority. The individual responsible for the incident failed to perform her duties and avoided several safety checks built into company policies to ensure the safety of the children. The administration has addressed the breakdown in policy by implementing a new reforms policy that will require more than one person to be responsible for a specific duty and strength the safeguards involved to ensure that nothing like this ever happened again. The individual was terminated immediately upon learning what had happened. Also the ownership, staff and administration of Operation New Life is coopering fully with State and local authorities as they investigate this matter."

The school did not comment about approaching Kate to handle the situation privately.

"I think they should be held accountable for what they done," said Cates.

Cates is still furious about the incident but she is thankful that her daughter is safe, as the outcome could have been different.

"You hear about all these cases where people leave their kids in the car by accident or on purpose and they don't make it. So I've very blessed. Very, very blessed," she said. "I couldn't imagine my life without her."

Little Karah Evans is back home after spending Tuesday night at UNC Children's Hospital. The toddler was under constant observation of doctors; they confirmed that there was no organ damage from the extreme heat.

Even though there is some bruising around her lap area, the toddler is okay now. Cates thinks that the child was strapped in to the car seat and was fighting to get out. Criminal charges have not been filed till now as the Chapel Hill police said investigators are now determining how long the child was stuck on the bus.